Automated Elections on 2010

November 7, 2008 · Filed Under opinion · Comment 

The US Presidential election’s now over… and aside from Obama winning, what left an impact the most here in the Philippines is the fact that they knew the results shortly after the “voting” per se… and this, according to some people here, is because US got sophisticated machines.

So now, there are talks that the government would be spending millions (maybe, even billions) of pesos just to “automate” our elections here.

But, do we really need that now?

How about instead of spending A LOT for machines, just so we’d know who wins what in a snap, why not buy food for the poor… or maybe, why not fix some “classrooms” in public schools… or better yet, why not build a school in the provinces.

Or why not just use the money to provide free medicines for hundreds of people with tuberculosis… so many why nots… for our poor people.

The thing is, politics does not end in elections…but on service to the people… the elections is just a day, man… so why should we spend that much money for something we would do in a day. If we spend the money on people, and on people’s primary needs, it would last more than that.

Wouldnt it be better to spend, say 100 milion sending poor people to college, than to spend it on a machine that would not even guarantee that the votes would not get rigged.

A future versus a day.

Just a thought.

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MMDA Tow Service?

November 5, 2008 · Filed Under opinion · 2 Comments 

Okay, so I was just watching the news and they featured this one complaint from somebody whose car got towed “illegally” by the MMDA tow people.

According to the driver, the tow people “towed” his car, attached the “chains” (sorry bout the terms, not too familiar), grabbed the steering wheel — which gives the impression that the “tow” people almost hijacked his cab.

Mygulay! Same thing happened to us. Was on the cab with my mom and a friend, the cab “slowed down” (engine trouble?) in the middle of the highway, so the driver tried to push the cab to the side so we could get out of the car, and get another.

But no! Within minutes, an MMDA tow truck “chained” the cab to their tow truck… then the next thing I knew, the tow guy’s “driving”, and we’re up at like, angled at 15-20 degrees. Yes, we’re still in the car.

Tsk. It’s illegal, what they did… we screamed and ordered the guy to let us out, and after a few shrieks, he did. The cab driver then pleaded for the “tow” people to release the chains but no, the “tow” people turned deaf.

What people do for money.. tsk.

Poor cab driver.

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Poverty, We Can Do Something About It

October 15, 2008 · Filed Under blogging, opinion · Comment 

Sad truth: Poverty is already a given in the Philippines…

.. but we definitely can do something about it.

Photo from Habitat.org

Based on the National Statistical Coordination Board report, there is a growing number of poor Filipinos over the years — that in 2006, out of 100 Filipinos, 33 were poor as compared with 30 in 2003. In Tawi-Tawi alone, 8 out of 10 families are said to be poor, making the province the poorest in the land.

That data is the most recent they have, and that was already two years back. With the crisis (and the alleged corruption) that has been happening in the country, it would not be surprising if the figure balloons to 36, even 40 out of 100, and in Tawi-Tawi, perhaps, 9 out of 10… of course, we hope not.

These figures may be a representation of how poor we are as a nation, but, the good thing is, we can do something about it.

Now, there have been many organizations and foundations trying to help the poor, and if you wish to give to them, please do so. The world is for us to take, as they say, but it is also for us to give to the world. It’s the essence of our being, in my humble opinion — that for every blessing we receive, let us be a blessing to others as well.

So what can we do to help?

- Help Build Homes. Gawad Kalinga is a master of this. GK helps build homes for the poor, and this has been going on for years already. With a vision of a “slum-free, squatter-free nation” by providing “land for the landless, homes for the homeless, and food for the hungry”… eventually, there would be “dignity and peace for every Filipino”.

- Education is key towards upliftment. If you have the means, help a poor child by sending him to school, through World Vision. All it takes is about 600 pesos per month. That’s just PhP 7,200.00 a year, probably the cost of the cheapest camera phone. Wouldnt it be nice to help one child out of poverty by sending him to school?

- Feeding Programs. There are many non-government organizations and foundations offering feeding programs to the poor, especially to streetchildren. Volunteer to do counseling, or atleast donate so you could give them something to eat. I know Radio Veritas is doing this at night, feeding people who have no food to eat.

- Do Outreach. Now, for sure, everybody has done this. There’s always somebody who’s in need of somebody. It’s always easy to pool resources together to help others who are in need. There are a number of poor abandoned children always waiting for your assistance, plus the many victims of calamities. They’re houses now washed out, no food to eat, no clothes to wear.

There are a number of foundations helping our poor here in the Philippines. For a list of accredited foundations here in the Philippines, click here.

Photo credit: Habitat.org


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Double Dead Meat

October 12, 2008 · Filed Under opinion · Comment 

Ewww.

Chicken

There’s a market somewhere in Divisoria and Blumentritt offering double-dead meat (and chicken). It’s so gross! This is part of the X.X.X expose’ last night (and on the news), and it’s just sick! Could not imagine how people could sell double dead chicken and meat (tested positive with salmonella bacteria). Tsk. How could they do this to their customers, who are buying from them (with their hard-earned money) to have decent food to eat.

Some of them are also selling expired liver spread disguised as “reno” potted. Attention: If you’re buying reno product, make sure it has the word “reno” embossed on the lid of the can, that’s how to make sure it’s authentic (that’s what the Reno administrator said when Henry showed him the fake liver spread they got from Blumentritt).

Some of the products these people from Blumentritt are also selling are burger patties (but they dont look like patties at all) and mushrooms-in-can. What if these burger thingies are being sold to students in stores along schools? This is just so sick!

The National Meat Inspection Service group are now actively hunting down all these sellers. They even seized kilos of double dead chicken in Tondo yesterday. Yeah, get those poison sellers! Seize them, they’re killing some of our people!

If you know others who are doing this, please report them to the National Meat Inspection Service people. Their hotline number is 9247973 (got this from gov.ph), and Trunkline: (632) 924-3119, 924-7977, 924-7971 (from their website).

If we dont stop this, it’s gonna be a triple dead thing, with people being the third.

Mygulay!

photo credit: inhabitat.com

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